Host: Macedonia

In the period from November 14-18, 2022 our Municipal Primary School was host of the Erasmus+ project  I CARE - I care of Climate Aspects, Recycling and Ecological Values). The hosts welcomed guests from Spain, Poland, Estonia, Finland and the Czech Republic. Hosts from our representatives of this mobility were: Elisabeta Nastoska - project coordinator and the pedagogue Vesna Terzioska and other teachers who helped the school to be a great host school. 

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The theme of this mobility was "WATER" and as a city on water, according to the previously determined work agenda, teachers and students worked and exchanged experiences on the theme of water and, in addition to other activities, the guests enjoyed the beauties of Lake Ohrid

DAY 1 - the first working day - one of the goals of the Erasmus projects is to familiarize the Municipality of Ohrid and the education sector with the working activities of our school. We presented the project at a meeting to Dimitar Spaseski - a representative from the municipality of Ohrid as responsible for education, who welcomed our guests, a short discussion opened about the educational system in Ohrid schools and how positive such projects are for the development of a school.

After the visit, the guests visited our OOU Vancho Nikoleski - where the students welcomed the guests with a traditional fig sweet with a dance and a performance of the traditional Ohrid song "Despina". After the warm welcome delighted we were ready to start the activities, the program of activities for the current week was worked out, the students and teachers had a short activity to get to know each other, and later they voted for the mascot of this mobility. After the short break, each partner country presented on the topic "Where can we find water in our city/state?" - where springs, rivers and lakes in the mentioned countries were presented and the students through videos and presentations captured the map of water in each country.

After that, there was a panel debate, where each country had chosen a topic for presentation characteristic of its country, and we, as hosts, presented the legend of Biljana, so the students presented the story and the song through a short dramatization and a song.

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DAY 2 – We continued our planned program. Each partner country presented a specific institution in its city or state that is in charge of or related to water. The Ohrid students presented a visit to the Public Institution Vodovod in Ohrid, where elementary school students were introduced to the tasks and activities of that institution and presented it to their guests. In the second part, the students had the task of watching a short video about Interesting facts about water, and after that they solved a quiz on the same topic in groups. The winner received a sweet prize. And the second task was that all participants had to paint one fish each, for which they received pebbles previously collected from our lake and acrylic paints. The afternoon was reserved for a walk through the old part of the city, an organized walk with a tourist guide, who led the group along the waters of the lake, through the narrow streets with old houses and beautiful monuments in order for the group to get to know and remember the beauty of Ohrid. And then there was another interesting activity for the students and teachers - sports games, where all the children and teachers took part, and together through several games they socialized in divided groups, in order to get to know each other faster and easier.

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DAY 3 –  It was a day intended for a walk along the Ohrid lake. A full-day walk with the Armada ship, started from the Ohrid port and a panoramic view of the old part of the city and the quay as well as other important monuments. Along the way, the Bay of Bones and the museum were visited - where guests learned about the history of the bay and how it was discovered, and the beautiful sunny weather was favorable for guests to enjoy and take countless pictures for memories. The journey continued to the most beautiful monastery in the Ohrid region – St. Naum, where the tour guide presented the legend of the monastery, showed the sources of the lake and where they flow, explained how the lake is formed and how important it is to keep the water clean.

On the way back from St. Naum's guest partners and hosts enjoyed lunch on board to be followed later by a work activity. Each group had to draw the its own country and draw the major rivers and lakes in the state and paste pictures of their state. While the presentations were going on, of course we learned something more about water and some interesting about each country, the capital, the distance from the capital to the city from the guests, the names of the larger rivers and lakes.

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DAY 4 – Was a day scheduled for a visit to two public institutions in Ohrid.

The first visit was to the Public Institution "Hydrobiological Institute". Greeted by the director of the institution, Dr. Orhideja Tasevska, she warmly welcomed us to one of the most important institutions of strategic importance for the country, as it is the only one of its kind in the Balkans. The group was divided into 4 smaller groups, which alternately got acquainted with the laboratories for physico-chemical research, microbiological research, phytoplankton and then listened to a lecture on the spawning of the Ohrid trout. Satisfied with what was presented, the group continued to the second Public Institution - the Public Health Center in Ohrid. Greeted by a group of doctors and laboratory workers, they briefly presented the Institution as one of the most important for the city. In addition to the services for Epidemiology, hygiene and health education, this institution is significant because here the quality of drinking water in the territory of Ohrid is examined, the correctness of drinking water, surface water and waste water is analyzed. Students and teachers had the opportunity to visit the bromatology-sanitary chemistry laboratories and see how physico-chemical and toxicological analysis of all types of water (drinking, surface, waste) is performed. After these visits, the guests had free time to enjoy sunny Ohrid and in the evening all together, the guests and the hosts enjoyed a common dinner with traditional music and dinner. Here we fulfilled another of the planned tasks, to learn one of our Macedonian dances together.

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DAY 5 - It was a day to evaluate mobility and draw conclusions. Also, the coordinator of the project, Elisabeta Nastoska, made a summary of all activities completed so far and goals achieved from the project. Ideas were shared and a plan was made for the next activities to be done with the students and teachers, and a plan was also made for the next mobilities. At the end, certificates for successfully completed mobility were awarded.